The Story
by qtpie212
Summary: All Jaime Johnson, a smalltown girl on full scholarship, wants is to be part of the In-Crowd. Eric Lowry, an In-Crowder himself, will do anything to keep Jaime away from his friends and crowd. Please comment! I like constructive criticism!
1. Chapter 1

-Jaime-

Chapter 1

I was never the performing type. You know, as in performing arts. Like acting, singing, dancing, instrument playing, sports doing etc. Therefore, it was a wonder I was on a plane flying across the country to Los Angeles, California about to attend Greenwood Academy for the Performing Arts, also known as GAPA, on full scholarship. Full scholarship not only meant that I was a straight A student in the past and must stay a straight A student while attending, but that I also had a scholarship for my major. Now, a major in GAPA is not like a college major. It is the performing art that you supposedly excel in. For example, my major is singing. Don't ask how that became my major or how on earth I got a scholarship for it because frankly I don't know. It must be a miracle from up above. I mean, I always knew that I had an excellent voice. Everyone who heard me sing said so. I was the only one in my small hometown of Roosevelt, New Jersey that was able to reach all the really high notes and also the really low ones. The few people who heard me sing said I should try out for America Idol when I turned 16. The reason I said few people was because I was very shy. So shy, that I was embarrassed to sing in the shower. And that was when I was alone. How did anybody expect me to sing in public? I certainly didn't. That was probably the reason it never occurred to me that I would earn a scholarship because of my voice.

Well, the funny thing was that I didn't even want to go to GAPA, let alone apply or audition for it. I didn't even want to be famous and this school had agents and talent scouts come from all over America to find their next big star. The audition was my best friend Rachel Smith's doing. She wanted to audition for this school since she found out about it two years ago and now was her chance. She didn't want to attend Roosevelt High, the local high school. She wanted to make it big and felt her only chance to be a star was to audition for this school. And of course she wanted me to audition with her.

"So can you come?" asked Rachel with an anxious look on her face.

"Come where?" I asked. I wasn't really paying attention to what Rachel was asking me. I was too busy worrying about the math test I was going to take next period. Math was my weakest subject.

"To the audition," Rachel said, still wearing that anxious look.

Oh, the audition. Rachel bugged me about that thing all week. I asked my mom if I can go with Rachel on an audition to this really great school called Greenwood Academy for the Performing Arts. The second I said the words "performing arts" my mom gave me a strange look. I guess she knew as well as I did how "talented" I was. Meaning, I had raw talent but was too shy to show it off. However, she didn't question me and I didn't bother to explain. All she said was that I was allowed to go and hoped I had a great time at the audition.

"Rachel, I really don't think Hollyw-"

"Jaime! Please? For me? I know you are shy and all, but I really want you to come. Besides, you are really talented and it's about time you got your big break." Rachel had her big blue eyes wide open and her mouth in a pout. It was her puppy dog face. How can I say no to that face?

"Ugh. Fine. I'll come. My mom already said I can go. But let's just get one thing straight. I am not shy," I said stubbornly.

"Thank you so much Jaime! You won't regret this," she said with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Sure I won't," I said sarcastically, "My best friend will just be shipped off to Hollywood while I'm forced to attend Roosevelt High by myself for our sophomore year."

Rachel just laughed, rolled her eyes, and smiled at me. I knew what she thought. She was thought that I'd be just as excited as she was by tomorrow. I doubted that would happen. I also decided that I hated that puppy dog face for making me act like a pushover once again. Why was I cursed with the pushover chromosome from my mom, while my brother, Brian, got her beautiful baby blues?

"We will be landing in 10 minutes," said the pilot through the P.A. System, interrupting my thoughts of back home. "Thank you for flying American Airlines, and please gather all your belongings together. We will not be responsible for any misplaced items, no matter how valuable they are."

As I shifted in my seat to gather my belongings I saw my student guidebook peaking out of my carry on. Oh great. I totally forgot to read this on the flight to California. To come to GAPA as the clueless new girl was just what I needed. I hardly even knew the dress code. I mean come on, they have a different dress code for weekdays and weekends, what school does that? I guess boarding schools do. But I couldn't really judge because I never went to a boarding school before. I just hoped I'd remember to read the section on the dress code in the taxi on the way to the school. That way people wouldn't know that I was clueless from the way I dressed.

I walked off the plane, went to the conveyor belt, grabbed my purple luggage set, and started looking for a man holding a paper that said my name on it. My mom explained to me that this man was the driver that the school sent for me. I thought it was pretty cool that a random man was holding a paper with my name on it. It was just like in the movies when the celebrity had a random limo driver that held a piece of paper with her name on it. The only difference was that I'm not a celebrity and he's not a limo driver. At least I'm not a celebrity _yet._

I spotted the man I was looking for and headed his way. I guess he saw me coming towards him because before I knew it he introduced himself and helped me with my bulky bags.

"Hello, I am Pablo and I will be driving you to Greenwood Academy for the Performing Arts. You must be Jaime Johnson."

"Uh huh," I said.

"Here, let me help you carry some luggage to the car, it looks very heavy," he continued. "Just follow me and stay close behind. I don't want to lose you in this mess."

"Okay, thanks," I said handing him my duffle.

"You're welcome," he replied and started walking towards the exit.

Once outside he stopped in front of a nice shiny black car and popped the trunk open. I was a little confused. I didn't know that the taxis where so nice on this side of the country. I guess the people of California really do live large.

"Are all taxis this…nice?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh no," Pablo answered with a chuckle, "I work for the school's car service. We have quite a few cars that pick up students from the airport or run errands for the school. No public service taxi looks as nice as this car does. They probably look the same as the taxis back where you live."

"Oh, I guess that was a stupid question then," I said, my cheeks red from embarrassment. How could I have thought that Californian taxis were expensive shiny black Hondas?

"It wasn't a stupid question; it just showed that you hadn't read the student handbook too carefully."

My face turned red all over again. Even the driver knew that I was the clueless new girl! "Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"No, but it will be if you continue to crack comments like that. Now get in the car. The ride is a half hour long so maybe you can get some reading done."

"Okay," I said as I slid into the back seat and opened up my handbook. I turned to page 24, and started to read about the dress code. On weekdays we had to dress kind of preppy. Our shirts had to be black, white, gray, or navy. GAPA preferred turtle necks, polo's, or oxford shirts. Our bottoms had to be black, gray, or navy and could not be leggings, jeans, or shorter than half our thigh. This whole section explained why my mom wanted me to buy so much black, navy, and gray colored clothing. I just thought she thought I looked good in boring colors. On weekends we can wear whatever we wanted as long as we had sleeves, our bellies were covered, and our bottoms weren't shorter than half our thigh. Thank God for weekends because I didn't know if I could last the whole year looking like I went to a preppy funeral.

"We're here," Pablo said as we drove up the driveway that led to the school's main campus. The school grounds were huge! The driveway was a long gravel road that had nice palm trees along both sides of the road. The road led to what looked like a town square with a large stoned building in the center. That building was surrounded by smaller and blander buildings. But even the blandest building was fancier and more extraordinary than any of the buildings I have seen back home. "Are you nervous?"

"Yes, a little," I replied truthfully. "It's not every day that you are the new girl."

"I understand," Pablo said." Well, now that you're here you have to go to the main office and sign in. It's straight ahead and it'll be the third office to your left. Meanwhile I'll bring your luggage to your dorm room. "

"Thank you Pablo. Goodbye."

The main office was in the largest building called Birmingham Hall. Birmingham Hall was where all the offices were. The main office had a nice sized waiting room with had deep peach colored walls and evergreen sofas and chairs that were placed all around the perimeter of the room. A lot of people were in the waiting room so I decided to sit down and wait until somebody was ready to help me. I didn't really have anything to do except read my handbook. I didn't want people thinking I was the clueless new girl, even though I was, so I just sat quietly and observed the people around me.

There were two particular boys that caught my eye. One was around five foot eight, had wavy golden bond hair, and dazzling greenish bluish eyes. He had a nice summer tan and looked pretty laid back wearing a black tee-shirt, red basketball shorts, and Nike dunks on his feet. The other one was around five foot five, had straight brown hair that casually fell over his eyes, brown eyes, and olive toned skin. He was wearing a white tee-shirt under an opened short sleeved blue and white striped oxford shirt with jeans and flip flops on his feet. The reason why these boys caught my eye was probably a) because they were really hot and b) because they approached a lot of girls and made small talk with them. These boys must be pretty popular to know so many girls. I even started wondering if they would come over and talk to me.

Just as I was wondering how our conversation would go I heard someone call my name. I looked up but didn't see anyone I knew. I heard someone call my name again and this time realized it was one of the hot popular boys.

"Jaime? Jaime Johnson? Are you Jaime Johnson?" The blond boy asked a girl passing by.

"No. I'm Liz. I was in drama with you last year. Don't you remember?" the girl said with a scoff.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry Liz. Really I am."

"Sure you are," she said and then stormed off.

"Real smooth man," the boy with brown hair said with a laugh.

"Shut up. I can't remember everyone's name like you can. I hardly even knew the girl."

"Chill Eric, I was only messing with you."

"Okay, let's just find this Jaime girl already."

"Thanks dude, I owe you."

"Don't you always," said Eric, "Now which girl didn't we ask yet?"

"That one," said the brown haired boy as they headed towards me. However they didn't stop by me but by the girl with curly black hair that sat next to me.

"Hi, are you Jaime Johnson," asked Eric.

"No sorry I-

"I'm Jaime Johnson" I said cutting the girl off.

"Finally the girl shows up," Eric said under his breath. However, he said it loud enough for me to hear, so I shot him a quick glare.

"Hi, I'm Jake," said the brown haired boy.

"Uh, hi," I said."I'm Jaime, but you already knew that. So why were you looking for me?"

"Because I'm Jake."

"Okay…?"

"Jacob Gold? Your tour guide?" he said hoping I would recognize the name.

Unfortunately I didn't. "My tour guide? Why would I have a tour guide?" I asked.

"I'm guessing you didn't read the handbook," Eric said with false sweetness.

"I did read it, just not the part about the tour guide."

"But that was on the first page." he said questioningly.

"Okay so maybe all I read about was the dress code, but excuse me for not liking to read," I said a little too defensively. But come on, this was pure embarrassment. The two hottest guys were looking at me like I was an idiot!

"It's okay," said Jake," Just try reading the handbook when you have a chance. Transfer students, like you, receive a tour guide to help them get used to the school."

"Okay," I said meekly. "By the way, who's this?" I asked hinting towards Eric. I knew I sounded stupid but I didn't want to accidently say his name before we were properly introduced. I mean, he didn't know that I already knew his name and I didn't want him to think that I was eavesdropping on his conversation before because I was interested in him, even though I totally was.

"I'm Eric Lowry," he said. "Don't worry I'm not your second tour guide I was just helping Jake look for you after you ditched him by the _Meet Your Tour Guide Brunch_"

Wow, way to make a girl feel bad. "I didn't ditch him," I said defensively. "I didn't know there was a brunch. Jake I'm really sorry if you thought I ditched you. I would never do that"

"No problem. I knew you were new so I figured you didn't know where the brunch was and would go to the main office for directions. That's why Eric and I were here looking around for you."

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, do you want to go to the brunch now?" I asked a little too desperately.

"It's a little too late for that," he said." The brunch is already over. If you want we can go to the pizza shop on campus, my treat. That way we could get to know each other and I can explain stuff to you because from the looks of it you need a lot of explaining."

"That would be great," I said. "Eric, do you want to come?" I decided to be friendly and hoped his glare would turn into a smile.

"Not really, I'll let Jake do his work. He doesn't need my help for that and hopefully you won't be missing again," he said as he turned around and headed towards the door.

"Okay. Bye Eric," I called after him. I knew he heard me because he lifted his arm and gave a little wave not bothering to turn around.

"Did I insult him somehow?" I asked Jake after Eric was out of sight.

"No. Don't take it personally. Eric just isn't always the friendliest to outsiders. He'll come around soon," said Jake

"What do you mean outsiders? Like, people who aren't like you?"

"Something like that. You see, me and Eric are both very different even though we are best friends. I am very accepting while Eric is more closed minded and likes his friends the way they are. I think he has more against you then any other new comer because I'm your tour guide and instead of hanging out with him right now, I'm hanging with you."

"That's very mature," I said slightly annoyed. I couldn't believe that on my first day at GAPA I had an enemy. Well, kind of an enemy. I thought I might have had a chance to become popular at this new school. Back home I was known as the class brain and my only true friend was Rachel. If Eric continued to treat me like an outsider I would be doomed to the bottom of the social period. This was a disaster.

"Like I said," Jake continued, "he'll come around."


	2. Chapter 2

-Eric-

Chapter 2

I woke up to the smell of pancakes and scrambled eggs; the smell of orientation day. Greenwood Academy for the Performing Arts is the school that my sister Melanie and I went to. Melanie was in her senior year and was head cheerleader. My brother Justin had graduated two years before and was captain of the basketball team for his junior and senior year. Now he was in UCLA on a full basketball scholarship. I'm pretty sure that one day he'll be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

I wanted to keep up the Lowry family name so my main man, Jake Gold, and I decided to practice basketball every day of orientation week. We'd be so prepared that we'd definitely get onto the team. Especially since the whole team knew me because of my brother. Jake and I were a shoe in.

I reached over to my bed stand and started feeling around for my cell phone. As I turned it on I thought about the perfect day I was going to have with Jake. Just the two of us, the ball, and the hoop.

My thoughts were interrupted by a Ping from my cell. I looked at it and saw that I had a text message from Jake.

**Jake: Yo, srry but I cant make it today. I got a hot date ******

What? Jake's dumping me for a date? Since when did this happen? We were supposed to play ball all day. My head was spinning with questions but all I could text was one.

**Eric: Wat date and y didn't I meet her?**

Okay so maybe that was two questions, but it was still much less then the hundreds of questions that ran through my head.

**Jake: I didn't even meet her yet lol**

**Eric: Wat!**

He didn't even meet her yet! What kind of guy did that? Jake Gold, that's who. Jake was the most friendly and accepting guy I knew. No wonder he'd set himself up on a blind date, he probably wouldn't care what the girl looked like anyway.

**Jake: Dude, relax! It's the grl I'm touring. Did u completely ignore the past IMs I sent u?**

Oh right, he was a tour guide. How could I forget? I guess I really wasn't paying attention half the time we IMed each other. Well it wasn't really my fault if at the same time my stalker, Carle Richards, whose family was my family's close friends, IMed me and asked me to take her out. I mean come on, it was kind of more important at the time to take care of my unfortunate Carle situation than pay attention to Jake as he blabbed about being a tour guide.

**Eric: O, the tour guide. U said u mite b a tour guide u nvr said u were going 2 b a tour guide!**

**Jake: Srry dude but mite usually means is**

**Eric: ya wtvr I'll see u aftr ur date rite?**

**Jake: Definitely. C u l8er**

Great, just what I needed. To be ditched by my best friend for a girl. Worst of all it's a girl he didn't even meet before. Isn't there like a secret boy pact that makes you swear to never do that. I guess Jake just never got the memo. So what am I supposed to do now? I can't possibly play basketball by myself. It seems like I'm going to have to just shoot plain old hoops. Oh, goodie. What a way to start the new semester.

I was shooting hoops having a grand old time when Jake texted me again. It was already eleven o'clock which meant that he was supposed to be at the _Meet Your Tour Guide Brunch. _Maybe the girl he was assigned to was so boring or had such a bad case of acne that he wanted me to help him ditch her in order for us to finally play some ball. I opened the text and was so happy, Jake and I thought more alike than I gave credit for.

**Jake: Dude, Can u do me a HUGE favor?**

**Eric: Wassup**

**Jake: Can u help me look for my grl, I think she's lost. **

**Eric: Y do u think that?**

**Jake: Bc she nvr showed**

**Eric: Sure**

**Jake: Thanx! I'll meet u at the main office in 5**

Okay, so maybe Jake and I didn't think alike, but the girl he was supposed to tour sure did. How could she ditch him? What was she thinking? Did she know who she was messing with? When we find her I'll make her feel sorry she ever thought of coming to GAPA. First she messed up my whole day, then she ditched Jake, and since that didn't seem to be enough she messed up my rebound plan for my originally messed up day.

When I got to the main office Jake was already there and had a plan. He said that all we had to do was go to random girls that we didn't recognize and ask if they were Jaime Johnson. Ten minutes already passed and we couldn't find this Jaime girl anywhere. A girl with chin length blond hair was walking towards me and I was sure she was the Jaime we were looking for.

"Jaime? Jaime Johnson? Are you Jaime Johnson?" I asked reaching out to the girl that was passing by.

"No. I'm Liz. I was in drama with you last year. Don't you remember?" the girl said clearly offended.

"Oh yeah. Sorry Liz. Really I am."

"Sure you are," she said and then walked away. Wow do I know how to turn off a girl. But I guess it was good for me that Liz wasn't Jaime because maybe Jake will give up and want to play some basketball.

"Real smooth man," said Jake.

"Shut up. I can't remember everyone's name like you can. I hardly even knew the girl."

"Chill Eric, I was only messing with you."

"Okay, let's just find this Jaime girl already." I felt guilty for snapping at Jake but he didn't seem to realize.

"Thanks dude, I owe you."

"Don't you always," I said, "Now which girl didn't we ask yet?"

"That one," said Jake as he pointed to a girl with shoulder length wavy chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and fair skin. She was wearing a white short sleeved shirt under a cropped black vest with skinny jeans and black ballet flats. I thought she was pretty hot and I wasn't in the mood to be flattered by her now. If we talked to her the conversation might last for a while. So instead I headed towards the girl she was seated next to. This girl had black curly hair, a round face, and hopefully wouldn't be Jaime Johnson.

"Hi, are you Jaime Johnson," I asked her.

"No sorry I-

"I'm Jaime Johnson" the girl with the chestnut hair said.

"Finally the girl shows up," I said under my breath. Even if I thought the girl had good looks, I was still annoyed at her for all that she did. However, even though I thought I said that quietly, I knew that Jaime heard me because she shot me a glare clearly hoping I'd be scared. Tough for her because all I did was laugh a nasty little laugh and give her a longer and hopefully colder stare. I did not go crying for my mommy like she hoped I would.

"Hi, I'm Jake," said Jake, oblivious to the tension that was building up between me and his "hot date".

"Uh, hi," she said."I'm Jaime, but you already knew that. So why were you looking for me?"

Thank you doctor obvious! Can this girl be any stupider? I would hope not because then she would have to leave this school before I even gave her the chance to want to leave.

"Because I'm Jake"

"Okay…?"

"Jacob Gold? Your tour guide?" he said clearly hoping she would recognize the name.

She didn't. "My tour guide? Why would I have a tour guide?"She asked.

Apparently she can get stupider. This must be my lucky day. I get to watch the stupid but hot new girl instead of shoot hoops with Jake.

"I'm guessing you didn't read the handbook," I said my sentence dripping with fake sincerity.

"I did read it, just not the part about the tour guide."

"But that was on the first page," I said, hoping she'd get the feeling that I was testing her.

"Okay so maybe all I read about was the dress code, but excuse me for not liking to read," She said reddening from embarrassment. Score! Revenge is sweet, even though this isn't revenge, just a little quality entertainment on her expense.

"It's okay," said Jake breaking up the feud-to- be between me and Jaime," Just try reading the handbook when you have a chance. Transfer students, like you, receive a tour guide to help them get used to the school."

"Okay," She said meekly. "By the way, who's this?" She added clearly asking about me.

"I'm Eric Lowry," I answered. "Don't worry I'm not your second tour guide I was just helping Jake look for you after you ditched him by the _Meet Your Tour Guide Brunch._"

."I didn't ditch him," she said defensively. "I didn't know there was a brunch. Jake I'm really sorry if you thought I ditched you. I would never do that."

Wow, I didn't know that line would really get to her. I guess she is the innocent type. This is going to be easier than I thought.

"No problem. I knew you were new so I figured you didn't know where the brunch was and would go to the main office for directions. That's why Eric and I were here looking around for you."

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, do you want to go to the brunch now?"She asked.

Please say no, please say no. I really wanted to shoot some hoops with Jake before lunch.

"It's a little too late for that. The brunch is already over," Jake said.

Yes! We will be able to play after all.

"If you want we can go to the pizza shop on campus, my treat," he continued." That way we could get to know each other and I can explain stuff to you because from the looks of it you need a lot of explaining."

No! I guess he really was into this whole tour guide thing. Way to spoil a mood.

"That would be great. Eric, do you want to come?"She added, clearly because she knew she had won the battle.

"Not really, I'll let Jake do his work. He doesn't need my help for that and hopefully you won't be missing again," I said as I turned around and headed towards the door. I couldn't let her think she had completely defeated me.

"Okay. Bye Eric," She called.

"Bye," I muttered as I lifted my arm and gave a little wave not bothering to turn around

A few hours after the whole "Jaime Johnson incident" I saw the Runster twins, Sam and Max. They were identical twins with black curly hair and green eyes. The only difference between them was that Max was two inches taller than Sam and Sam's eyes turned hazel on windy days while Max's eyes stayed green.

"Hey, Eric," Sam called from a bench on the far end of the quad, "Come join us, we haven't seen you all summer."

"Hey guys," I said as I ran towards them," How was Europe?"

"It was nice and the girls were hot," said Max.

"Not all of the bro," Sam argued.

"Most of them were."

"No. Not really. Only like five."

"No, more like twenty."

Even though Sam and Max were identical twins they were two totally separate people that acted completely different. They didn't even have the same major. Sam's major was art and he was pretty good at it. He got into art shows and everything. One day soon he might even get an agent to help him sell his paintings outside of school shows. Max on the other hand was a complete sports guy. His major was baseball, but he'd be good at any sport he'd put his heart to.

I knew I had to break up their little argument or it would go on for days so I decided to change the subject. "What did you guys do in Europe other than rate the girls?" I asked them.

"We toured and did a lot of site seeing. It was unbelievable. I was able to paint some great pieces," said Sam.

"Enough about Europe, where's Jake?" Max asked.

"Speaking of tours," I said, "he actually gave a new girl a tour before. He's probably still unpacking right now. He got back pretty late from his lunch in."

"No way, he actually ditched you for a girl? That's hilarious."Max proclaimed.

"I wouldn't say it's hilarious. But yeah, he pretty much ditched me for a girl." I told him.

"Technically he didn't ditch you, he just did his job," Sam said. He was always the sensible and serious one, but did he have to be sensible now? I really wasn't in the mood for that.

"Sam," I started, "when you see this girl you'd think that he purposely ditched me for her."

"Wait," Max said. "You saw her? How did she look like? Was she hot?"

"Yes I saw her, and why would I tell you if I thought she was hot? You'll see her yourself," I said gloomily.

"What's her name, will we meet her?" asked Sam. I could tell that he was starting to get curious.

"Jaime Johnson and I don't know if you'll meet her. Can we change the topic I am not in the mood to waste my time speaking about some new girl," I muttered.

"Sure thing," Max said, "let's just go to dinner, I'm sure everyone's already there."

Max was right, as we walked up to our table I saw that everyone else was there. Adam Pecker, Max and Sam's third roommate, was seated in his usual seat between Valerie Burgdoff and Jake Gold. Jenna Horrowitz was seated across from Adam.

"Hey guys," I said as I slid into the seat next to Jake.

"Hi," Jenna said with a smile. "We were just speaking about Jake's hot date. What's her name again? Jesse?"

"It's Jaime," I answered curtly.

"Oh, so you heard of her? No fair! I wanted to break the news to you." Adam complained.

"Actually," I paused, debating whether to continue or not, "I met her."

"Okay, now that's really not fair! Am I always the last for everything?" Adam said. He didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was hurt.

"Uh, no. And quit being a baby will you?" Valerie said to Adam." I want to hear more about Jaime. Was she really as drop-dead-gorgeous as Jake said she was?"

"Jake actually said drop-dead-gorgeous?" asked Sam with a little chuckle.

"Now there's something to laugh about!" Max added.

"God, do all guys really have to be such jerks?" Valerie inquired.

"Do all girls really have to be such know-it-alls?" Max shot back.

"Touché," Valerie said with a smile. "And yes, we do."

"Well in that case, yes, we do too." Max said.

"Back to the original question, no, Jake did not say that Jaime was drop-dead-gorgeous," Jenna explained. "He actually said that Jaime was hot. Is that more suitable for you?"

"Hmm…" Sam said, pretending to take this into consideration, "it'll do."

"So, back to Jaime…" Adam said.

"Okay," Jake said. "What do you want to know?"

"I think the question is more like what is there to know? For God's sake, she's the new girl!" I basically shouted.

"And your point is?" Valerie asked.

"My point is that we shouldn't care a thing about this new girl. After this first week of school Jake won't even speak to the girl anymore. What's the point of mentioning her now?" I argued.

"I doubt that Jake will stop speaking to her after this week." Valerie said.

"Plus, even if he did, "Jenna started.

"But I won't," stated Jake.

"Okay then. Even if he did," Jenna repeated, "hypothetically speaking, why exactly should that stop us from mentioning her now?"

"Because, what's the point of speaking about someone we have nothing to do with?"

"Uh, I don't know if you realize this but we do that all the time," Valerie stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, don't you remember Liz, the girl from your drama class last year?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, I remember her! Do you think I have short term memory or something?" I answered.

Jake shot me a look that crossed between shock, confusion and disbelief. He knew as well as I did that I didn't remember Liz that well.

"No, and I wasn't even implying that." Jenna said.

"So what were you implying?" I said with a sarcastic tone.

"I was implying that last year you and Adam used to make fun of those hideous knitted sweaters that Liz used to wear even though you had nothing to do with her."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Adam said. "Too bad Grandma Liz didn't return this year. Now I hear she's Boho Liz or something."

"That was different Jen," I said flatly.

"Was it really?" she asked me.

"Yah, it doesn't seem so different to me," Valerie added. "You and Adam both talked about Liz, a girl you had nothing to do with. And now we are talking about Jaime, a girl you claim we will have nothing to do with."

"The only difference is that you were saying rude things about Liz while we are saying good things about Jaime," Sam commented.

"So your agreeing with them!?" I asked Sam, completely shocked.

"I'm just being sensible."

"Aren't you always," I said. I was getting more aggravated by the minute. Everyone liked Jaime. Why couldn't they just agree with me and see how ridiculous they were all being. Jaime was not supposed to be our friend!

"'What's up with you anyways Eric? You seem so…what's the word I'm looking for?" Jenna started.

"Touchy?"

"No, that's not it."

"Irritated?"

"Yeah, that's it. You seem so irritated today. Why?" she finished.

"I am not irritated," I said. "It's just why is every conversation I have today about Jaime, the new girl? Can't we speak about anything worthwhile these days?"

"What I don't get is why you even care? What did she ever do to you?" asked Adam.

"Apparently everything," Jake said sarcastically. I guess he did sense the tension between me and Jaime earlier today.

"Not _everythin_g Jake."

"Then why don't you tell us what she did do?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah, enlighten us," Valerie said.

"You know what? It's not important. You guys can talk about Jaime all you want. I'm going to go get some food."

"Have fun," Jenna said, "and can you please get me an apple while you're there? Thanks."

"Sure," I said. "Whatever."


	3. Chapter 3

-Jaime-

Chapter 3

Jake and Eric really were complete opposites. Jake was so sweet and welcoming, while Eric was so sour and, well, not welcoming. I couldn't even believe that they were best friends. I guess opposites really do attract. Well anyway, Jake was really helpful and I was happy that he was my tour guide.

"So, what's your major?" asked Jake.

"Singing. Don't ask how that became my major because I really don't know," I said with a laugh. I was surprisingly having a really having a good time.

"Well, for one, you must have an amazing voice if singing is your major," he said with a smile. His smile was so sincere it almost made my heart melt. Almost. "But other than that we have almost all of the same classes so if you need help with anything just tell me. I'd be glad to help."

"Thanks. That is a really generous offer, but are you sure you want to be committed to such a big job? I'm going to need a lot of help in the beginning," I said.

"Definitely, if you need to get me I'm locker A-27 and I dorm in Kantar this year."

"Thanks again."

"No problem, well it's already 1:30,' Jake said looking at his watch, "and I still need to unpack before dinner. See you later."

"Same here, bye."

"Good-bye." Jake was already half way out the door of the pizza shop when he turned around and said, "Oh, I almost forgot to ask you,"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know the way to Hemmingway?"

"Yes, of course," I said a little too quickly. Talk about embarrassing. Even Jake thought that I was the clueless new girl. Well, technically I was but I would never let him know that. I'd just ask a random person the way to my dorm house.

"Okay great. See you at dinner," he said with that cute, sincere smile of his. Then he turned around, walked out the door, and headed toward Kantar.

Hemmingway was the sophomore girl's dorm house. It was between Beckingway, the freshman girl's dorm house, and Medley, the junior girl's dorm house and was located on the right side of the quad.

I was in room 217 and as I walked in I saw a girl standing by the bed. She had straight blond hair with faded pink side bangs and a few faded pink streaks. She had hazel eyes and a few light freckles. She had a double piercing on her right ear and a tiny diamond stud in her nose. She was wearing khaki pants and a black shirt. I just stared at her because I was shocked that she was in my room. But after a few seconds I saw the second bed, second desk, second dresser, and second closet. I guess the fact that I had a roommate didn't dwell on me yet. After all, I always had my own room back home.

"Hi," I said as I snapped out of my trance, "I'm Jaime. I see you're my roommate."

"I know who you are," she said. "It was in the handbook.

"Oh" I said quietly. If I made anymore stupid comments like this one my reputation would be ruined before I even had a chance to build it up.

"I'm Kayla," she continued, "Do you mind if I put on some music while I finish unpacking?"

"Uh…no?" I said. I was surprised she even asked me. She looked like the type of girl that just did whatever she wanted no matter what the authorities told her. At least that's what her pink hair and multiple piercings told me.

"You seem surprised that I asked," she stated with a little laugh.

"Truthfully I am," I replied shamefully.

"Don't worry about it most people are. Just remember that I'm not the bad guy just a misunderstood girl. If you keep that in mind we'll get along just fine." Then she turned on the music and loud rock music started leaking through the speakers.

That was the only conversation we had for about 2 hours. I saw that Kayla was interested in mainly three things, photography, music, and skateboarding. She brought her skate board, her digital camera, tons of CDs along with her iPod Classic and her Mac laptop. Most of her music was along the lines of Alternative and Rock.

The whole time I was unpacking I thought mainly of one person. Eric Lowry. Was he really as popular as I thought? Did he have a girlfriend? Why did he hate me so much? And most importantly, why was I thinking about him so much? I decided to be brave and ask Kayla about him. She went to this school last year so she must have heard something about him.

"Uh, Kayla, what do you know about Eric Lowry?" I asked.

"What do you want to know?" she questioned while lowering the music.

"Everything. Who are his friends, siblings? If he has a girlfriend. What his classes are? "

"Wow, looks like Eric earned himself a stalker," Kayla said with a laugh.

"I am not stalking him," I said. I'll admit, I was a little insulted Kayla would come to that conclusion. Was I really acting like a stalker? I was just curious…right?

"Don't worry; I'm sure you're not his first one. He's one of the most popular guys in our grade. Practically everybody had a crush on him at least once."

"Even you?"

"Even me, but I was stupid then. It was the first month of ninth grade and I didn't have such great taste in guys."

"What do you mean you didn't have such great taste in guys?" I asked.

"You are so naïve. Put it this way. Eric is a huge jerk. I'll admit he is hot, but seriously, there are tons of hot guys in this school who are not jerks. And Eric is not one of them. Plus I'm pretty sure Eric knows that every girl crushes on him. That's partially the reason why he's such a big jerk."

"Okay, so he's a jerk. Tell me more. Who are his friends?"

"Let's start with the basics. His best friend is Jake Gold. "

"Right, I met Jake. He's my tour guide," I said anxiously. "Can we skip to the next one?"

Kayla gave me a perplexed look but just shrugged. "Sure. Next there is Adam Pecker. Adam has straight white blond hair, big blue eyes, and is kind of short for a boy."

"How short?"

"I don't know. Maybe around five foot two. But anyway I think Adam is the cutest of Eric's friends. He's also the funniest in my opinion. And his major is photography just like me."

"Okay," I said. "So basically you are the closest with Adam."

"I wouldn't say that. According to him we are from two separate worlds. Next are Sam and Max Runster. They are identical twins and sometimes I can't even tell them apart. They both have black curly hair, green eyes and they are average height but I think Max is a little taller than Sam. However, even though they are identical twins they are very different people. Sam's major is art so he's very artsy while Max's major is baseball so he is very sporty.

After them come the girls. There's Valerie Burgdoff and Jenna Horrowitz . Valerie is the more mysterious independent type of woman. She is gorgeous though. She has pale skin with dark hair that is straight at the top but towards the bottom it turns into banana curls. She also has chocolate brown eyes. She happens to have one red streak in her hair though, it's a nice touch. She wears a lot of black but it's not the only color she wears. Valerie's major is salsa dancing and she rocks. She won plenty of dance competitions last year. Jenna, on the other hand, is pretty in a different way. She has long straight orange hair with soft brown eyes. She is quieter than Valerie but not shy. She is also extremely smart. She's in all honors. She also plays the piano and violin her major is an instrument. I'm not sure which one though."

"And that's it? Those are his only friends?"

"No. Those are his closest friends. If you really want I can tell you every single person in this school because I am pretty sure if they aren't his friends, they most likely wish they were."

"No it's okay," I said with a giggle.

"Why are you so interested in Eric Lowry anyway? Classes didn't even start yet. I only started crushing on him on the second day of classes."

"Well, I met him today because Jake is my tour guide and Eric was with him."

"Yeah, so?"

"Let's just say he wasn't as welcoming as I thought he would be."

"Figures," Kayla murmured.

"So anyways, I was just wondering what his deal was and that led me to wondering who he was. That is where you and all that information came in."

"Okay. But I'm just saying that you shouldn't linger too long to get into their tight group of friends. Although they are all pretty different the only ones who are really welcoming are Jake and Jenna."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that they aren't worth your time. There are nicer and cooler people in this school. They might not be popular but at least they'd be your true friends."

"Oh. I see. You think that Eric and his friends aren't really friends?"

"No. I know that they are really each other's friends, but I don't know if they would really be your friend even if they say they are."

"So they are all snobs?"

"Not at all, they are really nice, with Eric as the exception, but I wouldn't trust them with your friendship if I were you. They usually seem to do what's best for them, not bothering who or what they hurt in the process. I don't know if they do it intentionally or not but I wouldn't take the chance. That's all I'm trying to say."

With that the conversation ended and we each got back to unpacking our belongings. After a few minutes of my fingers groping for something to pull out of my suitcase I drew out a picture frame. In it was a picture of me and my best friend Rachel. It got me thinking. Will I ever find a friend in GAPA that's as true as Rachel? Kayla seemed decent but was she really my type? What about her friends? Would they ever accept me? I'm not exactly their type. Plus I really did want to be popular here regardless of what Kayla warned me. Maybe I should try to become friends with Eric and his group of friends. Jake already seemed to like me. But then again, maybe I shouldn't.

I woke up the next day, and was actually excited for my first day of class. I decided to wear a black pencil skirt that hit right above the knee with my oxford shirt from Abercrombie. I left the first few buttons unbuttoned and topped my look off with a gold juicy necklace and black flats. Kayla's outfit was giving off a different style. She wasn't really a fan of the whole preppy thing. She wore a baggy black hooded sweatshirt with gray pants and black high-top converse. One sneaker had her pants tucked in while the other one was hidden under her pants. The only jewelry she wore was her earrings and nose ring.

I sat with Kayla and her two friends at breakfast. At first her friends seemed a little annoyed by my presence and stayed quiet, but soon after they broke through their shells and started to talk to me. Dylan Soket, Kayla's first friend, had straight auburn hair that almost always blocked his eyes. I was able to sneak a few glances and saw that they were a dark brown. McKenzie Freed, Kayla's other friend, had jet black hair that he spiked in the front. However, his baby blue eyes and sweet voice didn't go well for someone who tried to give off such a tough look.

"So I hear you're from New Jersey" he said.

"Yeah, who'd you hear that from?"

"News travels fast around here, especially about the new girl, which in this case would be you."

That information was not to my liking. What else would be going around about me? That I thought the school's private car service was California's public taxi service? "What else did you hear about me?"

"Just that Jake Gold is your tour guide. You must be ecstatic," he proclaimed.

"Are you trying to be sarcastic?" I asked, and then heard Kayla and Dylan snicker. Okay, I guess I missed the little private joke the three of them just shared because McKenzie just grinned and simply said no. "Then why do you care if I'm ecstatic or not?"

"A guy's not allowed to ask a question without being attacked by a girl and her annoying comments?" he questioned, still smiling.

I was just about to answer but the morning bell rang and the second I opened my mouth to speak McKenzie, Dylan, and Kayla walked away and headed to their first class. I don't exactly think that was the best way to start my first day of classes but I shrugged it off and tried to think positive. My first class of the day was math which wasn't so great since math wasn't my best subject, it was my worst. However, math wasn't so bad and Jake was there so I spoke to him for a few minutes before heading off to entertainment center, my next class.

Entertainment center, also known as EC, was a class that I've never even heard of before and was pretty sure I'd make a complete fool of myself within the first 15 minutes of the class. I was even surer of my little prediction when I turned around and saw Eric seated in the very back of the classroom with a few guys. I think one of those guys was Adam because as far as I can remember Kayla said that Adam was short with white blond hair, and sure enough the boy next to Eric was short with white blond hair.

"Settle down," said the teacher in the front of the room. She was pretty young, around 26 years old, with straight brown hair and brown eyes. She was pretty in a very simplistic way. "I am Ms. Dowry and I will be your EC teacher this year. I am not sure if all of you read your student handbooks so I will explain what EC is."

Why did I feel like she was staring directly at me when she mentioned this comment? Maybe I was just being paranoid. But I did hear a few snickers in the background. Again, maybe I was just being paranoid. Paranoia is a very common thing for the new girl on her first day of classes…right?

"EC is a class where I don't only teach you one performance skill such as singing or dancing. You will do everything from karaoke to runway modeling in this class. You will be doing Broadway all the way to Shakespeare in this class. None of you had this class last for one very simple reason, because this class enters every single one of you in a contest that is not available for ninth graders. I will send the three best couples to state wide competitions where they can win extraordinary prizes."

"I think you said _couples_?" the boy who I think was Adam said.

"You are correct, Mr.?

"Adam, Adam Pecker."

"Adam, I did say couples," she answered. "All the competitions are for couples only so this class is a group effort. I will pair you up with another person in this classroom and you will be an EC couple for the rest of your high school experience here in GAPA. There will be no switching couples with no exceptions. For the next week you will all perform a song on the spot to the class. I will pick the song and with that I will determine who your partner is. Any questions?"

No one raised their hand or said a word. All any one did was stare at her. Did she seriously think it would be okay to pair us up with a kid for the rest of high school?

"Okay, great. Let's start with Eric Lowry," she said, looking down at the class list. "Come on don't be shy, get up on the stage," she said, now looking directly at Eric.

"Okay. What song am I going to sing?"

"That's a good question," she said with a smile. "How about _What's Left of Me_ by Nick Lochay? If you don't know the words you can look at the screen in the back of the room. Just try not to make it look so obvious because this is supposed to be like a live performance not karaoke night."

"No problem," Eric said casually as he headed towards the stage in front of the room.

I have to admit Eric was amazing. Even better than amazing, he was unbelievable. He had such a true and sincere voice it made you want to believe what he was singing. It was like he was a different person onstage. He wasn't the jerk I thought he was but the perfect guy. He connected with the audience and it felt like he was staring directly into my eyes. It was so magical that I blushed. And then the song ended and he shot a smile to the audience and walked off stage while everyone clapped. I was still in awe when I heard my name being called.

"Jaime Johnson?" Ms. Dowry said.

"Uh, yes?" I asked. Then I heard a few snickers, definitely from Eric and his friends in the back.

"You have to pay more attention, I called you name three times."

"Okay," I said while my cheeks burned from embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said with a grin." Just go on stage while I decide what song you should sing."

Oh, no. Me, sing, onstage? Those three words did not go well together. I should have been prepared for this. Ms. Dowry clearly said that every single one of us would perform in front of the class within the next week. I guess I just didn't think that I'd be one of the first ones. I already felt the phlegm rising up my throat. I quickly swallowed and walked on stage. I could do this, I could do this…

"Okay you can sing _Crazier_ by Taylor Swift."

Yes! Taylor Swift, my favorite artist. I could do this; I knew all her songs by heart.

"Okay," I said. Once Ms. Dowry started the music I got nervous all over again, but by the first chorus I started to get comfortable and actually enjoyed myself. Who knew performing could be so fun? I definitely didn't. Once the song finished I received a round of applause from all my classmates except for one. Eric Lowry. Why did he have to ruin all my good moods in this school? I tried to shrug it off and ignore the fact that he thought I was bad but I couldn't. However, the feeling that hurt the worst was that I thought he would actually begin to like me if he saw how good I was. I guess Kayla was right, I am too naïve.

After I performed a girl named Carle Richards did. She had loose golden ringlets and pretty green eyes. After she performed she winked at Eric and he shrank in his seat and turned an interesting shade of red. I guess that's who he's crushing on. Well lucky her.

At lunch I sat with Jake but Eric wasn't there. He sat with Carle and her friends. I wasn't sure if it was because I was sitting with his friends or because he had the opportunity to sit with his crush. I decided to ask his friends about Carle and maybe I could figure out the rest on my own.

"Who's Carle Richards?" I asked suddenly.

"She was in EC with us, "Adam said while putting ketchup on his hotdog.

"Yeah, I know that, but who is she? How does Eric know her?" I questioned.

"So Eric wasn't lying when he said he met you, I kind of hoping he was." Adam mumbled.

"Excuse me?" I asked. I couldn't believe they talked about me. What did Eric say?

At that exact moment Valerie kicked Adam under the table. "Ouch, what was that for?" Adam asked clearly disturbed.

"You tell me," Valerie said. I guess she wasn't so happy that Adam spilled the beans that they spoke about me behind my back.

"Sorry," Jenna said apologetically, "it's just that Jake was telling us about how he was your tour guide and Eric told us that he met you. I know you probably think we said some bad stuff about you, but trust me we didn't."

"Okay, but can you just tell me who Carle Richards is?" I asked for the third time.

"Sure," Jake said. "She is Eric's family friend. They've known each other since they were two. It's no big deal that they are sitting together. They usually do at least once a month."

"Oh," I said stupidly. After that I just stayed quiet for most lunch and didn't speak unless someone spoke directly to me.


	4. Chapter 4

-Eric –

Chapter 4

Later that night Jake asked me why I was such a jerk at dinner.

"I was not being a jerk," I said defensively.

"Then what do you call a person who tries to get people to hate another person," Jake asked bitterly," because I call that person a jerk."

"Let's switch the question around," I said. "What do you call a person who is trying to steal your friends from you?"

"Do you seriously think that's what she's doing?" Jake said sarcastically.

"Yes, and she's doing a pretty good job of it, you already hate me because I was such a 'jerk' at dinner." I said. I added air quotes while I said 'jerk' to add effect.

"Wow, you have a point but I doubt she has any intention of stealing your friends," Jake said all senses of sarcasm dropped. "If anything, I think she wants to be friends with you more than anyone else in the school."

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"Because I saw her looking at you a few times during dinner."

"She was probably just plotting who to turn against me next," I said stubbornly.

"I don't think so, she looked a little hurt. I guess she was a little shaken by the way you treated her when you two met."

"Yeah, well everybody wants something they can't have, and in this case it's my friendship," I said. I was still being stubborn and Jake knew it.

"Stop being so stupid and give her a chance," he argued.

"Why should I?" I argued back.

"Just think about it," he suggested. "Good night."

"G' night," I said sleepily.

The next morning I decided to take Jake's advice and think about befriending Jaime, so I skipped breakfast and took a walk around campus to clear my mind. I really wasn't sure what I should do, and this was partially because I was not the most accepting person and I knew it. It wasn't that I was a mean person; it was that I didn't like change, and having a new friend was a big change. I guess I didn't have to be such a jerk to Jaime when I met her. I mean, I'm not a jerk to everyone who wanted to be my best friend. I am actually kind of nice and I don't blow them off the way I blew Jaime off. It was just that I was so annoyed at her at the time. And once I'm annoyed at someone I stayed annoyed at them for a while. That was a character trait I needed to change along with many other ones. So maybe I was a jerk if I have so much I needed to change. But I wasn't as big a jerk as Jake claimed I could be, or was I?

At EC I was in for a major shock. Jaime was in my class and I couldn't stop looking at her. I had to pay extra attention to what our teacher, Ms. Dowry, was saying.

"EC is a class where I don't only teach you one performance skill such as singing or dancing. You will do everything from karaoke to runway modeling in this class. You will be doing Broadway all the way to Shakespeare in this class. None of you had this class last for one very simple reason, because this class enters every single one of in a contest that is not available for ninth graders. I will send the 3 best couples state wide competitions where they can win extraordinary prizes."

"I think you said _couples_?" Adam said, interrupting her little speech. That made me smile but now Jaime was looking in my direction. Should I give her a chance or not?

"You are correct, umm?

"Adam, Adam Pecker."

"Adam, I did say couples," she answered. "All the competitions are for couples only so this class is a group effort. I will pair you up with another person in this classroom and you will be an EC couple for the rest of your high school experience here in GAPA. There will be no switching couples with no exceptions. For the next week you will all perform a song on the spot to the class. I will pick the sing and with that I will determine who your partner is. Any questions?"

No one had any questions but I couldn't believe she would pair us up with somebody against our will. More than anything I hoped she wouldn't pair me up with Jaime because if she did then I wouldn't have a choice and I'd have to be nice to her if I wanted to get a good grade.

"Okay, great. Let's start with Eric Lowry," she said, eager to get started. "Come on don't be shy, get up on the stage," she said looking at me.

"Okay. What song am I going to sing?" I asked

"That's a good question," she said smiling. "How about _What's Life _by Nick Brodsky? If you don't know the words you can look at the screen in the back of the room. Just try not to make it look so obvious because this is supposed to be like a live performance not karaoke night."

"No problem," I said. I didn't particularly like that song but I wasn't going to argue.

I wasn't nervous at all. My parents always said I was the performing type because I loved the spotlight and all the attention that came with. They were so happy that singing was my major and said it was a match made in heaven. The thing about me was that even if I didn't like a certain song, I still connected with it when I performed which was good because nobody knew my true feelings about the song most of the time. I also made eye contact with a few people and accidentally one of those people was Jaime. I think I held my gaze a little too long because she turned away and blushed. Oh great, she thought I gave in to her.

After the song ended everyone including Jaime applauded. Yup, she definitely thought I gave in. Why else would she clap for me if she thought I was such a jerk? Ms. Dowry was now calling Jaime's name so she could go up to perform.

"Jaime Johnson?" Ms. Dowry said for the third time.

"Uh, yes?" she replied. She was also daydreaming I concluded.

"You have to pay more attention, I called you name three times."

"Okay," she said quietly, "Sorry."

"It's okay, just go on stage while I decide what song you should sing." Ms. Dowry said calmly.

While Jaime was walking towards the stage Ms. Dowry told her that she would be singing _Crazy _by Tiffany Blank. Again I didn't like the song choice, but what was I going to do, complain? I wasn't even singing this time.

"Okay, "she said casually. Once Ms. Dowry started the music and Jaime started to sing I realized how good she was. Jake told me her major was singing but I didn't think she would be that good. Wait, what was a doing? Thinking good things about Jaime? Absolutely not. I could not and would not do that. That was intolerable. I just tried to focus on her song and remember that I didn't even like that song. The only problem was that Jaime made it so believable. After the song ended, I was still fighting the Jaime battle in my head and didn't even bother to clap.

After Jaime performed Carle Richards did. I wasn't so happy that Carle was in my class and silently prayed that she wouldn't be my EC partner either. She sang _One More Time_ by Jacqui Stevenson. She was also a good performer but in a more girly way than Jaime was. Unfortunately after her performance she winked at me. Can she be any more embarrassing? I thought I told her to back off. I guess I'll just have to tell her again.

As I walked into the cafeteria I saw that Jaime was seated at my table so I decided to sit with Carle. I didn't want to sit near Jaime because I still had to think some more, and decided that this was a good time to tell Carle that I will never take her out so she should just stay away.

As I walked towards Carle's table, Carle looked up and saw me approaching." Hi, Eric," she shouted across the room. "Come sit with us, I saved you a seat."

"Gee, thanks," I said as I sat down. "That was really thoughtful."

"It was wasn't it," she said real smug. "I was hoping you wouldn't be sitting with your friends today. Especially since that new girl is there. Why is she there anyway?"

"I don't know, maybe because Jake's her tour guide." I said without much expression. "Why do you care who she sits with anyway?"

"I just don't like new girls," Carle said. Wow, we are more alike than I thought.

"Okay, well Carle I'm really eating lunch with you now because I have to tell you something really important," I was looking directly at her now.

"Okay, what is it? You know you can tell me anything," she said with a little giggle. Her two best friends who stuck to her like glue, Nicole Craigen and Trina Davidson, were also giggling. What did they think I was going to ask her? To kiss me?

"Good. Why did you wink at me at the end of your performance during EC?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you would be embarrassed," she said with another girly giggle.

"I was not embarrassed, I mean I was, but not for the reason you think," I said. "I thought I told you that I don't like you that way and that if you can't accept that then we can't be friends at all."

"I don't understand," she was close to tears, "you don't want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Listen. I am an independent guy and I don't really like the concept of a girlfriend. We can be normal friends but there cannot and will not be dates and all that love junk you do."

"Okay, I guess. But why couldn't you tell me that a different time? Now I look horrible. I'm so embarrassed." The tears were already flowing down her face. What did I do?

"I tried to tell you plenty times before, you just didn't listen. Look. I am really sorry and all but I just couldn't go on with you thinking I was your boyfriend. But now that you understand I think our friendship will be a lot…easier," I said slowly searching for the right word.

"You're right. I was such a baby bothering you like that. And I'm really sorry," she said wiping her tears. "I hope you forgive me."

"I do. Just try not to be so clingy. I don't like clingy," I told her as I stood up. "Well I want to get to class early, so see you around."

I am so relieved. I finally got the message through to Carle. She finally understands that I am not her boyfriend and she is not my girlfriend. Now, all I have to worry about was what to do with Jaime. I still have a lot of thinking to do but hopefully I'll know what to do soon.

The rest of the day went by quickly and I only had three other classes with Jaime, singing, language arts and global studies. I was of the first ones at dinner and was able to get my food early. As I went to sit down I saw Adam, Valerie, Sam, and Max headed towards our table.

"Hi guys," I said. I was in a good mood.

"Hi, looks you got over your sour mood from last night," Valerie stated.

"I guess I did, but I still have some things to think about."

"Like?" asked Sam.

"It's none of your business. It's between me, myself, and partially Jake."

"Why Jake?" Adam asked

"Why me what?" Jake asked as he slid into the seat next to me.

"Nothing. It's just that you partially know what things I have to think about," I said to Jake hinting to him that I agreed to take his advice from last night.

"Oh, right," he said. I was glad that he understood what I was hinting.

At that moment Jenna came with a little surprise she thought would make me happy. "Eric look who I invited to sit with us," she said with a smile.

"Who?" I asked looking up. And then I saw her. Jenna brought Jaime to join us. Did she think this was some practical joke or something?

"Jaime."

"Oh. Hi Jaime," I said. "I'm really sorry but I can't stay I really have to finish unpacking. That's why I came early to dinner, so I can leave early to finish unpacking." I stressed the words 'leave early' hoping that Jake wouldn't blow my cover and say that I already finished unpacking.

I felt horrible after, and definitely needed to think a lot. I decided that I was a huge jerk. I totally just blew Jaime off again for no particular reason at all. I guess I was just scared because I wasn't sure if I wanted to be her friend yet. I was such a jerk it wasn't even funny. It was at this moment that I realized that I did want to be Jaime's friend. Why else would I care if I blew her off? For all I know she really thought that I had to finish unpacking.

That night Jake and I had another one of his talks.

"What do you think you were doing earlier?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked him back, trying to play innocent. The truth was that I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"How can you just do that to Jaime? God, she has no friends and when she tries to make a few you just blow her off?"

"She didn't even know that I ditched her."

"Eric, that's not the point and you know it."

"Fine, do you want the truth?" I asked him.

"Yeah, the truth would be nice. I just can't believe you would do something like that. I never knew you had it in you. Man, I thought you were more than that."

"Well, the truth is," I started, "I can't believe it either. For the first time today I saw what a jerk I really am."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Jake questioned.

"The worst part about all this is that I don't know" I told him." I still have to think about that part."


	5. Chapter 5

-Jaime-

Chapter 5

The rest of the day went by pretty well. I had dance with Valerie and art with Sam. Kayla was right; they were both amazing at what they did. Compared to Valerie I danced like a monkey and compared to Sam I painted like a two year old. It was pretty embarrassing. On the way to dinner I bumped into Jenna and she asked me if I wanted to sit with her again at dinner. I instantly thought about the warning Kayla gave me last night but chose to ignore. I decided I would be able to tell if they weren't really my friends. When Jenna and I came to the table Eric told me that he had to unpack and was sorry to leave. He didn't seem so sincere so I asked Jake if he really had to leave or was I the reason he left.

"Yah, Eric is really slow at unpacking. It has nothing to do with you, trust me," Jake said.

"Okay, but why do I have the feeling that Eric doesn't like me so much."

"I don't know why you think that," Adam said with his mouth full, "Eric actually likes you a lot compared to other people."

"Adam!" Jenna said with a little giggle, "Chew with your mouth closed."

"Sorry," Adam said, still chewing his slice of pizza.

"And Jaime, don't get too worked up about Eric. He's really nice and so are you. You two will become great friends before you know it," she said.

"Thanks," I said. I chose to hide the fact that I was still a little unsure about Eric, regardless of what they just told me.

Later that night Kayla asked me how it went with Eric.

"Not too well," I told her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I have EC with him and after I performed he was the only one who didn't clap."

"So, maybe he was daydreaming. Boys do that a lot," she said.

"And Eric just happened to be the only boy that was daydreaming," I stated skeptically.

"Stranger things have happened," she said with a shrug.

"I guess, well anyway he didn't sit at the same table as his friends during lunch and I'm pretty sure it was because I was there."

"Where did he sit," Kayla asked.

"With Carle Richards," I declared.

"Well, Eric always sits with Carle every now and then. They are old friends. Don't take it too personally."

"That's exactly what Jake said. But how come when I came to join him during dinner he suddenly got up and said he had to finish unpacking?"

"Was he finished eating?"

"I don't know but he did say he came early just so he can leave early."

"So maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he doesn't hate you as much as you think he does," Kayla concluded. "Maybe I was wrong about him, it's possible that he changed over the summer."

"Do you think so?"

"Not really, but who knows?" she said with a little laugh.

"Thanks Kayla," I said with a smile. "But do you think I can eat with you from now on?"

"Sure thing. But you're sure you don't want to sit with them anymore?"

"Yup. Until I'm certain that I'm welcomed by every single one of them I'd rather sit with you where I know I'm welcomed."

"That's good to know," she said.

"Wait, Dylan and McKenzie don't mind that I'm sitting with you guys, right?"

"Nah, but even if they did they'd have to deal because I wouldn't want you sitting by yourself, now would I?"

"I guess not" I said with a huge smile.

"Okay, now that we've got that all straightened out I'm going to bed," She said with a yawn. "G'night."

"Good night. Oh, and Kayla?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Good night."


	6. Chapter 6

-Eric-

Chapter 6

That night I couldn't fall asleep. Jake fell asleep around two hours ago and I heard him breath in and out, in and out. The guy was so lucky, he slept like a baby. I glanced at the clock and saw it was 2:00 AM. Oh man, now I'm going to look like a zombie in the morning. But that wasn't my real problem. My problem was what to do about Jaime. I knew that Jake really wanted me to be friends with her and I knew that I told him I'd give her a chance. But truthfully I just couldn't. I really felt like she was taking my friends away from me and soon enough they'd hate me as much as she hated me.

I had to come up with a plan and fast. I could try ignoring her but that probably wouldn't work so well because Jake would realize that I'm not speaking to her. That would also defeat the whole purpose of me pretending to be her friend when Jake was around. One other plan came to mind. Pranks, I could do a few harmless pranks on Jaime, she and Jake both wouldn't know it was me, I'd be able to pretend to be her friend, and I'd have a little piece of mind. Just a little. Now all I had to do was find backup.

The next morning at breakfast I took Adam and Max aside. I had a feeling that they would help just so they could have a good laugh.

"What's up?" asked Max.

"Yeah man. You look like you slept through a tornado or something. What did you want to tell us that was so urgent?" Adam asked.

"I need your help," I answered both of them I once.

"Our help? Now that's a first." Adam said through a few chuckles.

"Yeah, I'm shocked. What for?" Max questioned.

"Okay, but you guess need to promise not to tell anybody," I paused for a reply.

"Yeah, sure" said Max.

"Okay, but this better be good because you are taking my time away from being with Jenna," replied Adam.

"Dude, Jenna does not like you the way you like her," said Max. "She likes you the way she likes her annoying ten year old brother."

"That's not true," argued Adam. "At least not for long. I have a plan."

"Sure you do," laughed Max.

"Anyways, back to what I was saying. It is. But actually you might think it is a little stupid."

"Okay," said Adam dragging out each syllable of the word.

"You guys realized how I don't really like Jaime right?"

"Yeah who didn't? Although I don't see why," said Adam.

"I do, she can get a little annoying," replied Max.

"Thank you," I said. "Somebody finally agrees with me."

"I never disagreed with you I just know how to hide my inner feeling from the rest of the world," he said with a sarcastic laugh to it.

"Ha ha, hilarious. Can we get back to what I wanted to tell you guys?"

"Sure thing."

"Good. Now, I was thinking maybe we can play a few harmless pranks on Jaime over the next week or two. Just for fun. No hard feelings towards her. I just need to get my mind off some things and I think this will help."

"Okay but Jake will kill us. Especially you," said Max.

"Who said Jake has to know," I told him.

"I like the way you think," Max said. "I am in."

"And you?" I asked Adam.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" he answered. "This could be fun."


	7. Chapter 7

-Jaime-

Chapter 7

The next day was a breeze. I sat with Kayla, McKenzie, and Dylan for all three meals. Classes were pretty easy and very interesting. I only saw Eric during the four classes I had with him; E.C., singing, language arts, and global studies. He didn't speak to me and I didn't speak to him. It was almost as if we were avoiding each other. During dinner Jenna came over and asked if I wanted to hang with her and Valerie at their dorm room but I said I'd just stay with Kayla tonight.

"What was that about?" asked Dylan.

"What was what?" I asked him back.

"That," he said.

I gave him a puzzled look so McKenzie explained for me. He said that Dylan wanted to know why I ditched Jenna, one of the most popular girls in our grade, for Kayla, a skater chic.

"Oh, that," I said with a small embarrassed laugh.

"Yeah, that," he said, wearing the one- eyebrow –up-one- eyebrow- down look. "Care to explain?"

"Well…uh… why does it matter to you?" I asked suddenly. "Am I not allowed to hang out with Kayla? She's a great friend you know."

"Yeah, we know," McKenzie said," We just didn't know that you knew that."

"Well I do," I said.

"That's great. Not all girls realize that. They just look at us and the way we dress and automatically label us skater dudes A.K.A. freaks. Then they look at the kids with the cool clothes and great looks and label them the populars, the in crowd. It's kind of annoying," said Dylan.

"We didn't know if you were one of those girls but now we know that you're not," McKenzie stated.

"Well," I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know that Dylan and McKenzie had second thoughts about me. I mean, I always had a hunch they did but was never certain. "I'm glad to have met your standards."

"You did."

"But, you met mine way before. I never had any doubts about you," Kayla said, giving the boys the evil eye.

"But, Jaime?"

"Yeah Dylan?"

"Kayla's coming with us to the skate rink on campus tonight. We are going to stay there until curfew."

"Oh." I said. My whole spirit dropped. I thought I was finally in their little threesome. But who was I kidding? I am not a skater dude.

"You can still come and I can teach you how to skate," he continued.

"You don't mind?" I asked.

"Not at all, if you are a friend of Kayla than you are a friend of mine," he said with one of those big, cheesy smiles. After that we all cracked up laughing and my spirit floated up top again.

At the skate rink Dylan did try to teach me how to skate but to no avail. I guess I was never meant to be on a board. I gave Dylan I sheepish smile before Kayla and I headed to our dorm and thanked him for the lesson.

The next day I sat with Kayla, Dylan, and McKenzie for breakfast. While I was eating my cheerios Jake came over to see how I liked my classes and if I needed any help.

"Actually, yes thanks," I told him. "I know it's only the beginning of the year but I already don't understand what we are learning in math."

"Oh, no problem. I don't mind explaining it to you."

"Thanks"

"I can explain it to you over lunch. We can sit by my table."

"Um, okay. Your table is great," I said a little hesitantly. I really didn't want to sit by Eric but what was I going to say? "Sorry Jake but your table sucks since Eric sits there?" Uh, no. I didn't think so. So, instead I found myself sitting at Jake's table for lunch, with Eric right across from me.

"Okay so multiplication or division always comes before addition or subtraction if they are in the same problem," Jake said.

"Okay, I think I understand now."

"That's great. It only took him about ten times to explain it. I thought this would go on for much longer," said Eric.

"Thanks Eric. You are really encouraging," I shot back. I didn't want to be as shallow as Eric was and cause a scene but I really was getting sick of him.

"No problem," he said with that grin of his that was started to get on my nerves.

"Anyway I need to go to the little girl's room so I'll be back soon."

"Don't take too long," Eric said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, Jaime. Let me show you the bathrooms near here that are hardly ever used," said Adam.

"Okay, thanks," I said a little unsurely.

"What are you doing?" Valerie asked Adam.

"It's just that she doesn't know the grounds so well. I thought I should help her out," he explained.

"Isn't that Jake's job?" asked Sam.

Adam just shrugged, turned around, and headed towards the door as I followed him. A few minutes later we stopped by the end of a hallway.

"Okay the bathrooms are right down here on the left. You'll see the one that says 'Girls' Room."

"Okay, thanks again."

"No problem. I'm going to head back." He said as he started to walk away. "Or do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'll find my way back on my own."

"Okay then. See you soon."

"Yeah see you," I replied, but he already turned the corner and disappeared from view.

I thought it was pretty sweet that Adam offered to show me the way to bathrooms even though he wasn't obligated to. If only Eric was even a smidge nicer. Then maybe I'd feel comfortable sitting by their table permanently.

I walked into the bathroom and the second I did I stopped dead in my tracks. Right before me were four urinals. Two of them were occupied!

"Eek!!!!" I yelled. "What are you doing in here?"

"What are you doing in here?" asked the tall blond boy by the urinal as he zipped up his fly.

"Uh…isn't this the girls room?" I asked. This was so awkward. I could feel my cheeks burning up from embarrassment.

"Actually no it isn't. You can even check outside the door it clearly says 'Boys' Room''. And sure enough, when I checked the door there was a plaque said 'Boys' Room' in bolded letters. I could have sworn it said 'Girls' Room' before I went into the bathroom. I was so embarrassed I ran straight to the cafeteria and didn't even bother to pay the real 'Girls' Room' a visit.

"How was your short bathroom break?" asked Eric. The way he said it was as if he knew something I didn't. But then again, maybe I was just paranoid. Nope. Not possible.

Then it dwelled on me. I wasn't delusional or going crazy. I really did see the plaque say 'Girls' Room' before I entered the boys' bathroom. There was only one person who would go through all that trouble and I knew exactly who that person was.

Eric.

I didn't know how he did it or who helped him, but I was sure it was him.

"Okay, what do you want?" I asked him furiously at the end of lunch.

"Sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about," he said calmly as he gathered his books and headed out of the cafeteria.

I followed him. "You know exactly what I am talking about!" I nearly shouted."Just tell me why."

"Why what?"

"Why you did that to me?"

"Why I did what to you? You need to be more specific if you want an answer."

"You know, that stuff with the bathrooms," I said, jabbing a finger at him.

He paused in front of a classroom and looked at me. "Huh?"

"Please stop playing dumb because you and I both know what I am talking about."

"I am going to say this one last time because I don't want to be late for class," He said as he opened the classroom door. "No. I. Don't."

"God, you might think you are one great actor. But guess what. You're not because you don't fool me!" I said in a huff. But I was too late. He was already inside the classroom.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeep._

Great, now I was late all because of Eric. Score two for Eric score zero for Jaime. What a way to start the new year.


	8. Chapter 8

-Eric-

Chapter 8

I didn't get it. How could she have known it was me? How could she have possibly known? I wasn't even the one who showed her the bathroom. This girl seriously had something against me. Whatever Jake said about Jaime wanting to be my friend was not true. I mean, a girl did not just blame you for something she had no proof of you doing and then claim she wanted to be your friend. Nope. No way.

I had to come up with a better plan. My pranks had to be more precise and sly. I just hoped Jaime didn't tell Jake out about all this. If Jake found out, things would not be good between the two of us.

The next day at EC Ms. Dowry told us that she grouped together the pairs. "Just remember," she said, "there will be no switching partners under any circumstances." After that she cleared her throat and began reading off the list of couples. "Mike Cruise will be with Amanda Smith, Adam Pecker will be with Kayla Stone…"

I heard Adam groan and saw Kayla slouch. I seriously felt bad for them, they just didn't get along. Actually, Kayla and her groupies didn't really get along with anybody in the school except for Jaime. They were kind of secluded from everybody else. But what can I say, they were freaks

"…Eric Lowry and," Please not Carle or Jaime, please not Carle or Jaime, Please not Carle or, "Jaime Johnson." Oh, no. Out of all the girls in this class Ms. Dowry had to pair me up with Jaime. I would have rather been paired up with Carle and that was saying something. I snuck a glance at Jaime and saw that she was not too thrilled either. Maybe Ms. Dowry would make an exception for her _no switching partners _rule because clearly Jaime and I could not work together.

After class I went to Ms. Dowry and began to state my case. "Ms. Dowry, Jaime and I cannot work together it isn't possible," I pleaded.

"For the last time Eric, the answer is no. You cannot and will not switch partners. You will work with Jaime and who knows; maybe you will even come to thank me."

By that time Jaime was already beside me at Ms. Dowry's desk. "Ms. Dowry," she said, "I don't think you understand. It's not that Eric and I don't want to work together it's that we can't. We just don't agree on anything."

"Yeah, exactly," I said desperately, "we don't agree on anything and we don't get along. That is why we can't work together."

"Well," Ms. Dowry said, "you two just agreed that you cannot agree on anything so I don't think that proposition is true. Now if you will excuse me I would like to eat my lunch in peace so this discussion is now closed."

"But Ms. Dowry," Jaime started.

"No buts, now hurry along and go to lunch."

"Yes Ms. Dowry," we both said in unison as we left the room.

"This is your entire fault," Jaime said angrily as we walked down the hall.

"My fault?" I asked startled. "How is this my freaking fault?"

"Well if it wasn't for you and your stupid prank I wouldn't have been mad at you and we could have made this work."

"I did-"

"But no, "she continued, "you had to be a jerk and now I cannot and will not forgive you so I don't know how we are going to make this work."

"First of all I didn't do any prank on you so I don-"

"Oh God, cut the crap will you? Just stop lying to my face," she said in a huff.

"How do you even know I did this so called prank on you? Do you have any proof?"

"Well no but-"

"So you have no proof but you just blame me? That is not cool."

"For this I don't need proof," she practically shouted, "I see the way you look at me and I sense your tone of voice when you speak to me. You don't like me and you never did. Therefore the only logical explanation is that you did it."

"Okay, you know what I had enough of your accusations," I said as I went to the table. "This is a little ridiculous."

"Whatever," Jaime mumbled. "I'm just going to go sit with Kayla."

"Yeah whatever just try not to miss me too much," I said with a smirk as she scoffed and stormed away.


	9. Chapter 9

-Jaime-

Chapter 9

"Kayla, this is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do?" I asked urgently. I paced back and forth in our dorm room while Kayla was flopped on her bed chewing bubble gum.

"What am I supposed to do? I am the one who is paired with her crush, and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a freak," she shot back just as urgently.

"I'm sure he doesn't think that," I reassured her. "Now wait, back up. Your crush?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she said meekly.

"When did this happen?" I squealed excitedly. "Why am I so out of the loop?"

"Well," she started," remember when I told you I thought Adam was the cutest and funniest?" I nodded my head in response. "So, the only reason I said that was because I've been crushing on him since the seventh grade."

"Really! Wow, I'm actually impressed. You are paired with your crush while I am paired with my enemy. Can Ms. Dowry make any other horrific pairs or is it just our luck? Well, really it's just my luck. You should be happy because now is your chance to amaze him with your talents."

"My talents? And what might that be?"

"Your photography, music, and skating talents," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, well I can't really show those off when I am singing or acting or dancing so I think I might have a slight problem with my _wow_ factors."

"Don't be so pessimistic," I said. "You are so lucky compared to me it's not fair. I am paired with Eric. Can you believe it? Eric Lowry. The biggest jerk on the planet!" I said with a groan as a fell down on my bed, my face buried in my pillow. "I am officially doomed."

"You are over exaggerating; you two are way more alike than you know."

"Please tell me you did not just say that," I demanded, suddenly very exhausted.

"But I did."

"Ugh, first Ms. Dowry says Eric and I agree about a lot of things and now you claim that we are more alike than I think! What are we? Twins separated from birth or something?" I practically shouted. "This cannot be happening to me."

"Jaime, I think you need a rest," Kayla said with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks for that. I'm going to sleep then."

"Good. Sweet dreams. Oh, and by sweet I mean dream about your one and only Eric."

"God, please stop," I groaned as I chucked my pillow at her. Put all I got as a response from Kayla was a laugh while she put her headphones in her ears.


	10. Author's Note Please Read!

A/N

Ok I have a few problems:

I hardly have any time to write

When I do have time to write I don't know what to write

When I do know what to write I write such short chapters!

Please please help me out by reviewing and giving me some feedback. I want your ideas!


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